Dustin Poirier shares interesting mindset change ahead of UFC 318 retirement fight

Dustin Poirier much prefers the anxiety of leaving the Octagon for the final time, as opposed to how he walked out following his last outing.

Poirier is scheduled to have his final pro MMA fight against Max Holloway for the BMF Championship on July 19. The bout will headline UFC 318 inside Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. “The Diamond” will look to go 3-0 against “Blessed” to end his pro MMA career.

Win or lose, Poirier is certain that he’ll feel better about making his exit from the Octagon than he did following his loss to Islam Makhachev.

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Poirier Plans to Take Everything in During Final Fight Week

Dustin Poirier was a guest on Monday’s edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show.” Poirier explained why he already thinks he’ll have a better feeling about leaving the cage once his trilogy bout with Max Holloway is over than he did at the conclusion of UFC 302.

“I don’t want to leave the Octagon like I did in the Islam fight, where I’m kind of like second-guessing everything,” Poirier said. “I want to be sure of it. I want to walk into the arena knowing that this is the last time I’m ever going to feel this.

“That being said, this whole camp, fight week, everything I’m going to do coming up in these next two months, I’m just going to try to embrace because this is the last time I’m ever going to be put in this position and feel these nerves and get to walk out in an arena and fight another man. When they gave me Max Holloway, what a legend to be standing across from. I said legends only, and he’s definitely all of that.”

Poirier will walk away from pro MMA competition with over 40 fights on his resume. He’s shared the Octagon with world-class fighters such as Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Islam Makhachev, Charles Oliveira, and Justin Gaethje to name a few. Of course, you can add Holloway to the list.